Florida Bar Poll Results Contradict Florida Republican Party

Poll results this year show the three Supreme Court justices gaining an average approval rating of 90 percent. The 15 appellate judges on the ballot also received very positive marks, with approval ranging from 76 to 94 percent.

For the Supreme Court, poll results indicate support for retention of:

R. Fred Lewis by 92 percent.

Barbara J. Pariente by 89 percent.

Peggy A. Quince by 90 percent.

Even though the results are favoring retention of these three Supreme Court justices, the Republican Party of Florida has a personal vendetta to stir up as much discontent with government as possible, as long as banks and private prisons are well taken care of.

Merit retention of all three Florida Supreme Court justices.

On September 21, 2012, the Republican Party of Florida announced that it would actively oppose the merit retention of all three Florida Supreme Court justices.

The RPOF’s unprecedented and ill-advised decision to inject party politics into a judicial election wrongly ends many decades of nonpartisanship in Florida’s judicial elections. The RPOF’s action short-sightedly invites reciprocation by other parties in the future and effectively threatens sitting judges at every level with political retribution each time they face a difficult or publicized case. The constant and real threat of political retribution for a correct but unpopular decision will materially threaten, and could well destroy, the impartiality and objectivity of the judiciary.

Alexander Hamilton noted in the Federalist Papers (No. 78) that “The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited constitution … without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing.” James Madison’s notes from the U.S. constitutional convention, as well as the Federalist Papers, make clear that the framers gave little thought to electing judges; they focused upon the wisdom of a dispassionate, independent judiciary.

Florida, like many other states, historically opted for elected judges, but it mandated that judicial elections be nonpartisan, seeking to keep judicial elections free of political party influence.

Four decades ago, Florida sought to cleanse its Supreme Court and appellate courts of politics altogether, providing that judges and justices be appointed after nomination by independent judicial nominating commissions, and answerable to the people based only upon the question of the merit of their judicial service, not partisan considerations. Since that time, both major political parties have wisely and appropriately refrained from partisan involvement in merit retention, presumably recognizing that, in a retention election based on merit alone, there is no place for party partisanship.

The Republican Party of Florida is split into a further fragmenting mess. Ron Paul’s no government, no war, hippy style is becoming entangled into the corporate controlled government. The next decade is going to be even more interesting than the next couple months as the fragmented republican party loses to President Obama in this election.